China on Tuesday urged the relevant countries to respect its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests and efforts of regional countries to keep the South China Sea peaceful and stable.
“Maritime disputes are issues between countries concerned. Third parties have no right to interfere whatsoever,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during his regular briefing while commenting on Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar’s remarks.
The Indian foreign minister in a meeting with his Philippines counterpart in Manila said that he supports the Philippines in upholding its sovereignty and wants to cooperate more on defense and security, particularly relevant amid the Philippines’ maritime disagreement with China in the South China Sea.
“We urge relevant parties to face squarely the facts and truth on South China Sea issue and respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interest and efforts made by the regional countries to keep the south China Sea peaceful and stable,” the spokesperson added.